Big and Small Ideas by Rudy Owens

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Yes, public health blogging makes a difference

I began this blog in March 2012 to share my perspectives on public health issues and to integrate multiple disciplines and perspectives that the traditional public health field either is not doing or does not want to do–such as speaking with moral clarity on the public health threat posed by firearms in the United States.

I took this screen snapshot of my dashboard on Nov. 29, 2014.

My blog has had nearly 38,000 page views as of late November 2014. This means this web site is getting more visibility and traffic than many published papers by academic researchers. Many of their peer-reviewed articles will never be seen because they are behind a firewall run by for-profit companies that prevents publicly-financed research from reaching policy-makers, the popular media, and the public who pays for the research.

To celebrate the eventual “fall of the wall,” meaning the for-profit firewall that is stifling innovation and blocking research from having greater value to the public, I am going to highlight a few of my more popular public-health articles based on visitors and page views.

I think it is time to start dismantling the firewall and to start telling public health’s story with more traditional storytelling techniques, with more creativity that bridges disciplines, and with an eye on upstream advocacy.

The articles I shared above do not follow the traditional model of public health writing or practice, and some challenge the current U.S. models as broken and even morally bankrupt, particularly regarding the historic deathly silence by public health leaders at the local and national level and at universities in the face of firearms-related violence in the United States.

So if you landed on this page and find yourself within the claustrophobic walls of academia as a student, grad student, or faculty member, and you have not been exposed by your peers or the faculty to the value of blogging, here 38 reasons why you need to get off your freaking butt right now and get to work. If you work in a public health office and your office is not actively using social media because of out touch managers and your office is not advocating with lawmakers, you need to show leadership and become the change you want to see and not wait for others to do it for you.

Yes, it is time to think creatively and innovate and challenge the old guard whose ways are failing to make a greater impact.

My list of blogs/articles may be updated as I continue to publish more of them. I am now using this blog to discuss organizational behavior, multi-disciplinary research, and stories based on personal and professional experiences as the starting point for discussing larger issues. I hope you come back from time to time to check out my articles. Thanks.

(Note, I am publishing this blog post as both a page and post on my blog.)